Dendrobium moniliforme 'Kinboshi' 金星
 

Hey gang!

Haven't been on in a minute. Been doing some wedding planning stuff, got a sinus infection out of nowhere.

I got this Choseiran from a Seed Engei auction. To my surprise no on was betting on it when it seems to be a fairly unique plant. Maybe because it doesn't have any variegation.

'Kinboshi' has light pink/lavender flowers, and it has 'bumpy' and sometimes wavy(-ish) leaves on long somewhat darker canes compare to some Choseiran that have green or yellow ones.

This plant came flowering, too. Unfortunately after I took these pictures it's been starting to kill them off as I imagine it's had these flowers for a minute before it got shipped to me. They have the typical mellow sweet scent most Choseiran are said to have.

The leaf type is called 'konpe' (コンペ). The flower shape type is more 'kabutozaki' (兜崎).

I found the names of these leaf and flower type here and here from Negie Orchids.

The word 'kinboshi' luckily has a Wikipedia page. It literally means 'gold star', but what it refers to is in professional sumo wrestling when a lower-ranked sumo gets a victory over a 'yokozuna', which is the highest rank of sumo.

The exact first line in the Wikipedia page:

How someone came to naming this plant that: I have absolutely no idea.
Fun plant, though! I also have no idea if it's a registered variety with the Japanese Choseiran Society or not, nor can I find a meikan for Choseiran anywhere, but I like it none the less.

Almost looks a faint lavender color to me. Then again, I favor lavender over pink. Regardless it's very nice!

It's beautiful and a cutie!

I love the ruffly flowers!

In terms of the name, kinboshi, it is a sumo term but from that, it can simply refer to an upset (beating a higher seed/rank), or simply, a great achievement.

I honestly thought the konpe look like stars on the leaves haha... but likely means a great achievement of a plant.